Multifoil UCx target for the SPES project --An update

Abstract

The target system is one of the key issues for the facilities aimed at the production of neutron-rich radioactive ion beams. In the framework of the SPES project (Study for the Production of Exotic Species), the possibility of using a target configuration with a proton beam (40MeV, 0.2mA) directly impinging on multiple uranium carbide disks is investigated. The 238U fission fragments constitute the source for the exotic beams and for this purpose the disks are placed inside a graphite box at 2000 °C. The target is split into several thin disks in order to allow the cooling of the system by thermal radiation. In this way about ∼ 1013 fissions s -1 are obtained with a relative simple system and with relative low costs. Further steps have been performed compared to previous publications and now all the main parameters of the system have been analysed by means of calculation codes: the fission rates and the fission fragment distribution; the power deposition and the thermal analysis; the thermo-mechanical behaviours of the disks; the effusive and diffusive extraction release properties of the target.